There's a reason why the road team is 1-12 in the round of the elite-8...home building energy!! It's tangible, feeding into everything a home team does...affecting the outcome more than any other sport. It started with a lift the half wine/half navy-shirted crowd gave the Cavs during intros, right into the lift Ben Wallace gave his mates by being out there in the first place, then providing the juice this team really needed early with his rebounding, defense and scores around the rim. His swooping rebound and putback early was vintage Ben from his Pistons days.
From there, the ball moved and shots started to fall and the Cavs were never in danger of losing this one, once they ballooned the lead to 26. 29 assists and 12 turnovers overall is a hard combo to beat.
LeBron met with the media, with his sidekick, LeBron junior. Little LBJ has a non-stop motor like all kids his age. LeBron told the gathering of reporters, "see what I go through at home", smiling, as Junior sipped on water, tested a second mic and didn't want to sit still. Dad had to tell him to stay cool. LeBron only had two turnovers in the game, as he said he made a conscious effort to make good passes, and not be as lackadaisical as he felt he had been in the first two games.
Joe Smith agreed this was probably his best game as a Cavalier. Damon Jones had told him before the game, be aggressive and knock down the shots you have always made, because the Celtics are always going to give their attention to LeBron. Joe said he was very aware he had a perfect shooting game going 7 for 7 until he missed his final shot. He laughed, saying he blamed Devin Brown for passing him the ball, forcing him to take the shot which was his only errant field goal.
How about Delonte West, tying his career best with 21 points? When he attacks as he did in this game, the Cavs move up a notch. Delonte says what really fuels him, is the desire to keep getting better everyday, and proving to himself he belongs in this league. He says the pressure he puts on himself is the true pressure he feels. Delonte said the coaches encourgaged him to to be aggressive from the start, and that he did...not just scoring, but dishing.
Z also set a career high for the postseason with 6 dimes.
11 wins away from the buzz of the hair clippers!
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The one thing that really bothers me about round 2 is that FSN does not have the coverage. I am tired of watching Barkley who barely fits on the tv screen!
Anyways if the Cavs can win tonight it is a brand new series (Game 1 was pivotal game that we should have won)Then again we came back from 0-2 vs Detroit!
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